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TR2/3/3A Coil issues

2long

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My TR2 coil went bad, so I got a new one from Moss which was a Lucas Sport coil. I am having some issues again with intermittent very rough running, where the car will run smooth for a bit, but then stumble and run poorly. After sitting for a bit, runs good again, but not for long before it was running poorly again. Fuel delivery seems ok, with fuel in the float bowls. Cleaned the points and after that it ran ok for a bit, and then stumbling again. I am suspicious of the coil I got, but not sure. Gawd, have I opened a can of worms asking for thoughts?

Aloha

Dan
 

TR3driver

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Probably. Ken Gillanders once told me that he tested an entire case of brand new Lucas sports coils he bought (for resale through BFE). Over half the case was either weak or DOA. He threw the entire case away.

I had a somewhat similar experience myself, as my original TR3 coil died on the way to VTR 2009. I bought a Lucas sports coil at the show, which lasted less than a year. After the failure, the engine would start (with great difficulty) from stone cold but only run for a few seconds before it got too bad to move the car at all.

My suggestion (and what I did) is to pick up an ordinary coil at FLAPS, along with the ballast resistor it requires, and hook that up temporarily. If that solves the problem, pick up a 3 ohm Pertronix coil from Amazon and use that. You'll need to rework the connections a bit, but that's no big deal. If you're lucky, FLAPS might even have the clip and boot to convert the high tension wire to match the new coil.
https://www.ebay.com/p/10-Pices-Bra...d=142606566877&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851
 

NutmegCT

Great Pumpkin
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Dan - what were the car's symptoms that got you to replace that old coil?

Is the tumbling, unstable idle the same problem you had before replacing the first coil?

I'm wondering if the problem wasn't the coil at all. Maybe fuel, sediment, or even distributor. I had a similar problem on my TR3, which was caused by a loose connection inside the distributor head; the connection would jiggle loose depending on temperature, engine speed, and vacuum changes. Took me forever to troubleshoot and fix.

Tom M.
 

TFB

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My TR2 coil went bad, so I got a new one from Moss which was a Lucas Sport coil. I am having some issues again with intermittent very rough running, where the car will run smooth for a bit, but then stumble and run poorly. After sitting for a bit, runs good again, but not for long before it was running poorly again. Fuel delivery seems ok, with fuel in the float bowls. Cleaned the points and after that it ran ok for a bit, and then stumbling again. I am suspicious of the coil I got, but not sure. Gawd, have I opened a can of worms asking for thoughts?

Aloha

Dan

The last time I had similar problems my points contacts were in pretty bad shape after 4500m while the previous set looked very good when changed after 5k.I run a bosch blue coil from advanedistributors,but my lucas sport coil has been working for 5 years on my tractor.
 

sp53

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I had one of those coils fail in 200 hundred miles. I would carry a spare. Some auto parts stores still have a part number for the coil. It has been a while, I would ask for a 1967 tr4 coil; I think they are the same. Plus Marv probably has something. I recently went through a similar problem and it turned out to be plug wires. I had made up a set with metal wire for the car a couple of years ago with those screw on plastic ends that were older. I finally switched out the cap and wires and that fixed it—But in the pain and drama of it-- I replaced and flushed out, kicked out, punched out the entire car, including myself. Plus I found some quality points and rotor, but the parts book was wrong on some of it; however, in the sorting it out, I saw the Sunbeam Alpine stuff and numbers worked for tr3 and that was at a Baxter’s store.
steve
 

JohnnyMead

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I had two coils fail within six months, a pertronix and a no name. I never found a common cause, but did discover that one of them could be brought back to the correct ohm reading if dropped on the floor. After that I've run a Bosch blue coil for the past couple of years. Maybe the epoxy filled Bosch is more resistant to vibrations? Don't know.
 

CJD

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I’ve been waiting for a situation like yours to try out one of these oscilloscopes I’ve been restoring. If it persists, I might have to send you one to see what the current is doing during the misses. Of course the likely cause is too much good weather...it’s 36 degrees here in Texas!

Before you replace the coil again, I might suggest taking the air cleaners off and looking in the carb throats while the engine runs to see if fuel is overflowing around the needle in spurts and flooding the engine slightly.

Merry Tropical Christmas!
 

mastaphixa

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The TR3 I work on for friend has a Crane XR700 electronic ignition and the coil on that car gets alarmingly hot. I have checked and it measures 4 ohms so the internal resistance is right. We've had no problems, but I put a spare in the car just to make sure no one gets stranded.
 

Geo Hahn

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...could be brought back to the correct ohm reading if dropped on the floor...

Can I do this at home or do I need to come over and drop it on your floor?

I do recall a number of years when the Lucas Sports Coils were prone to early failure. I thought (or it seemed) we got past that - but perhaps it has recurred.
 

JohnnyMead

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You don't need my floor to perform a "drop test" George, just carry too many parts at the same time, or if a part is too heavy just trip over it while carrying another part.
Merry Christmas everybody!
john
 

sp53

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I have an older Saab 1989 that still uses a coil plus I acquired some extra Bosh coils over the years for it and never really thought about using one. Anyways they are Bosh coils, and I have heard Randall explain this 10 times, but I spaced. How do I check the ohms again to see if they are ok for a tr3? They are probably too new, but still wondering.
Steve
 

Geo Hahn

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The non-video answer (relying on memory here) is that you want to see about 3 - 4 Ω across the 2 low-tension connectors.

If you see much lower, say, 1.5Ω then you can add an external resistor to make it suitable for the TR3.
 
OP
2

2long

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Thanks for all the tips and thoughts! Much appreciated to be able to read the various ideas and comments. My "easy button" plan is to obtain an older original working coil from good 'ol Marv, swap out my new one and see if that fixes it. If it does not, I will have a couple of spare coils for my workshop and I will move on to the next thing to troubleshoot. I will also report back on the results.

Mahalo and aloha

Dan
 

TFB

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Thanks for all the tips and thoughts! Much appreciated to be able to read the various ideas and comments. My "easy button" plan is to obtain an older original working coil from good 'ol Marv, swap out my new one and see if that fixes it. If it does not, I will have a couple of spare coils for my workshop and I will move on to the next thing to troubleshoot. I will also report back on the results.

Mahalo and aloha

Dan

I am surprised you are concentrating on the coil when the op said it ran ok for awhile after cleaning the points.I have point files to dresss points but they only get used on platinum nla points in magnetos.I never try to restore a set of inexpensive points,(unless its an emergency)just start with a new set and condenser and eliminate them as your problem.
Have Fun
Tom
 
OP
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2long

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Hey Tom - you may well be right about the points, but it just seemed illogical that the points would be the problem if I had just filed them. The intermittent smooth running and rough running popped up even after I cleaned the points. However, popping in new points and condenser may well be the easiest first thing to do, so I appreciate the input.

Dan
 

poolboy

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If you filed the points...perhaps there is now insufficient dwell time.
 

sp53

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Much appreciated Geo, but I have to say I thought it would have been the opposite way around; the tr3 taking the 1.5 ohms. Then again I flip stuff around like numbers sometimes, and the old I get the more I can see it and sometimes catch it, but it is difficult when it makes sense. Perhaps that is why I have a tr3. Something is always needing attention and it does not bother me much; it make sense. If it is true something wrong then incorrect is true.
 

TR3driver

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Nope, that's right, the TR3 takes a higher resistance coil; because it does not have a separate resistance in the circuit. The external resistor was common on American cars (which is why 3 ohm coils are harder to find); but Triumph (and VW) didn't get the memo until much later.

I'll agree, the OP's problem doesn't sound like a coil problem to me. But I took the question to be whether it was possible a new coil was defective, and I'm always suspicious of new parts.

To me, the problem sounds more like a bad connection somewhere, like maybe one of the leads inside the dizzy is broken internally.
 
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